Charlotte

De: Norah Lofts

Narrado por: Julia Barrie

When young John Vincent died, the outward respectability of the Cornwall household was undermined. Strangers pried, asked too many questions and pointed accusing fingers at Charlotte - herself eager to escape from the oppressive atmosphere of her father's home.

She fled deep into the countryside and there taught at a school run by the untrusting and untrustworthy Mrs Armitage, who was prepared to keep quiet about Charlotte's past - but only up to a point. When the events come to be recreated, some questions naturally arise. Had Charlotte been responsible for the death of the little pupil she loved? And has that crime been repeated? In darker moments, even Charlotte herself cannot be sure.

©1972 Norah Lofts (P)2008 Soundings

Based on the true story of Constance Kent

The first section of the novel is closely based on the story of 16 year old Constance Kent, who in 1860 was publicly accused of murdering her 3 year old half-brother Francis at Road Hill House. The case was widely reported, and investigated by Scotland Yard. She was not tried, but five years later confessed to the crime and was given a death sentence, commuted to life in prison. She served 20 years, emigrated to Australia, became a nurse and died at the age of 100. It’s impossible now to know what really happened, but many at the time suspected her philandering father of accidentally killing the boy when caught in the act of an affair with his nurse and of covering it up by hiding the body and reporting the child missing. Others suspected her of taking the blame for her favorite brother, or that the siblings killed their half-brother together. Even after her confession there people who firmly believed in her innocence. What seems clear to me is that Constance’s description of the killing itself is implausible forensically, and it would have been extremely difficult to commit the crime as she described it alone.

Norah Lofts departs from the historical case at the point where Constance Kent left home after the crown chose not to prosecute her, and an engaging tale of her title character’s life after the scandal follows. As always, the author’s understanding of the interior life of the young shines and I detected none of the anachronisms that can ruin an otherwise well plotted period novel for me. Lofts is unequivocally pro-Charlotte and offers an alternative solution to the crime. It’s certainly what I also would like to believe. And for those of us cynical about the rehabilitative qualities of incarceration, it accords better with Constance Kent’s long life of service to others following her release.